Why it’s worth paying for quality captions
These days, captions on social media or marketing videos are vital, as more people watch videos without sound. There are lots of AI-based automated captioning services out there, but you won’t get the same result.
Captioning a video in the same language as the audio involves a lot more than just word-for-word transcription. Every decision a professional captioner makes is based on how the audience will take in the information coming from different sources (like the image) at that specific point, so that your audience doesn’t even realise they’re reading at all.
Whether we’re post-editing automated transcriptions or creating a template to translate into other languages, this is just some of the value that professional captioners offer:
Most importantly of all, where AI will try to transcribe every word without considering how fast the speech is, we condense speech where necessary to make sure every word can be read comfortably in the available time.
We make the timings precise around shot changes, so there's no flashing effect. Captions slot seamlessly into each shot and blend visually with the moving image.
Whereas AI tends to join the last word of a sentence to the start of another, we time break up sentences into segments that make sense, following the rhythm of speech and grammatical units. Your subtitles look balanced and they’re easy to read.
If your caption file is then used for translation, this will then result in fewer synchronisation issues due to differences in word order between different languages. You have a good foundation to reach speakers in other languages, making the rest of your workflow more efficient and error-proof.
We query inaudible words instead of just putting our best guess. There might be a strong accent or the audio is low. If you’re translating, this means errors aren’t introduced into other languages.
We correct grammatical or phrasing errors that could make subtitles hard to read or understand for your viewers. Your audience will stay focused on what you have to say.
We reference your website and reference materials, keeping spellings and capital letters consistent to strengthen your brand identity.
A screenshot of a well-presented caption in my subtitling software.
I’ve helped so many clients who have tried to save money by using cheap automated solutions but soon realise the output does not reflect the quality that their brand is known for. When your captions are presented and timed professionally, your audience will be more immersed in the video. If you're selling a product, it's really important they're of a high quality. Sloppy subtitles might make people subconsciously think that your service or product is sloppy too.
Always get your captions checked by a human, ideally an experienced and qualified captioner. You’ll save time, money and stress, knowing your videos are in safe hands.
If you need English captions or subtitles for your video, I’d be delighted to help! Contact me here to discuss your project.